On June 28, 2019, Michael Sandonato and Andrew Kutas published "IP Considerations Surrounding 5G" in The Patent Lawyer. Here is an excerpt:
5G is the fifth generation of cellular network technology standards, developed under the aegis of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a consortium of telecommunication standard development organizations. Members of those organizations craft standards by submitting technical contributions setting forth their proposals. For 5G, the contributors are primarily telecom industry participants, with Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia leading the pack in terms of number of contributions. The first phase of 5G standards was released in 2018 and continues to develop, while a second phase is due for 2020. The rollout of 5G infrastructure and devices is still in its nascence, with a limited number of cities and consumer handsets currently taking advantage of the technology. But 5G is expected to play a large role in the future, having been hailed as being "bigger than electricity" and heralding "the Fourth Industrial Revolution."